Nut holder for wrenches



Feb. 13, 1945. MALCQM 2,369,400

NUT HOLDER FOR WRENCHES Filed March 29, 1945 F/QANKMAL can,

I N V E N TO R ATTRNEY V mounting member 5 manently or removably secured upon the shank UNITED STATES! FAT i l i 2369,4005 l NUTQHOLDER FOKWRENGHESL Frank'Malcom, .C'onipt'onibalif. Application Mar-ch 29, 19-43;,S eria1lhlo; .480;9.6-:.=

science. (01. 81 125) My invention relates to devices:iontemporarily helding: a: nut: in place: between the: jaws: of an wrench to: facilitate: the starting of nuts upon bolts: located in positions ofi cbmparative inacrcessibilityk.

In many industries; in which belts: or studs; are; requiredlto' be: providedwithnutmitx is the commonz. practice for the workman; to attempt to start; the nut. uponthe belt .or stud by: hand. and

'thento; apply a wrench to the nutfor the subsequentv tightening operations. .This practice is:

satisfactormwherethe bolt or stud maybelreadr ily reachedby the. hand of the;workman.but it? frequently occurs that: the positionlof theboltt makes it! difficult; or accessv anddifiiculty is: en-

countered-1 instarting; the nuts upon. thebolts. Itgisi therefore: an 'object of myqinvention toy provide a device for. facilitating starting the nuts: uponithe-bolts while thenut isheld in. the same. wrench :which will'be required for the subsequent tightening operations.

Another object of my invention is to provide. a; relatively simple. attachment which may beplaced upon standard open end type or S-type wrenchess which will when in placethereonco-a operate. with the. nutengaging] portions; of the. wrench. to holdv a nut in place between? the jaws.

Other objects and-advantages of my invention willcberapparent. from. a study of the following, specifications, read. in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1' is a perspective'view open end wrench. with my nut holding attachment in place tl ierebn;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the wrench engaging member of my attachment in Fig.1 a standard open end wrench I which may have either one or both of its ends provided with nut engaging jaws 2 and 3, the portionof the wrench 1 between the two sets of jaws comprisingan elongated and substantially fiat-sided handle 4.

The attachment for holding nuts in place be-- tween the jaws of the wrench comprises a which may be either peror? handle portion-i 4 anther-wrench; the mountingi member 55 illustrated in: Figs-.- I: and 2 com; prising a u-shapedti member formedi ofi sheet met al. andrpreferably, formed ofiflmetal having: con

siderable resilienceso: thatsthel mounting mem her 5 may be placed upon the shank portion; 4 of a wrenchuandwill grip the: wrench between the upper and lowerrleg;membersiof theU-shapez.

As. shownv particularly Fig: 2;. thebase= of,

the U-shape ismadeyslightly longer than the:

thickness ofwthe shankt of! thewrench with which it is to-be associatedandthe loweruleg .6 is ofisetupwardly towardthel upper legnsothat; the distance .betweerr, the. offset portion and the upper leg isslightly less theshank of the: wrench. The outer. ends of'v spring fingers. I1 and 8. which extend from the.

of a doubleended both legs are; bentslightly outwardly to act as guides, aiding in the placing of the mounting,

member upon the wrench shank;

. The-mounting. member 5" carries a pairl of mounting member-to approximately the center.

of the depth of the nut receiving recess between of the wrench, theputerends of the the. jaws. 3' pring wires 1. and 8 being outwardly as shown at. 9.

The spring; members bent downwardly and l 1 and 8 are preferably arranged suchthatiwhen; these members are in their normal undistortedlpositions theends 9 will. be. spaced apart. aldistance substantially in. excess oflthedi'ameter of thethreaded hole through a vnutwhichis tol beused withthe wrench so that whenthersp ring arms. are; pressed towardeach other and the ends placed. within a nut l0- as shown in Fig. 3, the spring arms or fingers willengage and hold the nut in in position between the jaws of the wrench.

The Spring arms 1 and 8 may be formed in any suitable manner though I have illustrated one form whichthese arms might assume which may be readily and inexpensively manufactured as by forming the arms as opposite ends of a single piece of spring wire which has its center coiled as indicated at H to receive a pin or rivet l2 holding the arms securely upon the mounting member 5.

. By using this construction, a single rivet 12 may have one of its ends riveted through an opening 13. in an up-struck portion M of the upper leg of themounting member 5 and after the coils H of the spring fingers I and 8 have been placed upon the rivet, the upper end of the rivet may bepeened over as indicated at l5, completing the assembly of the device.

By forming the attachment with a mounting new than the: thickness; of

2 member of the type indicated at 5, a single nut holder attachment may be readily removed from one wrench and placed upon another or a single one of the attachments may be employed alternately at opposite ends of the same wrench I.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a modified form of construction which may be substituted for the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein a mounting member 5a may be stamped or formed in substantially the same shape as the mounting member 5 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The nut engaging fingers are formed at opposite ends of a single loop of wire which may be secured to the mounting member So as by striking up from the upper leg of the mounting member a pair of lugs l6 and I1 and which may be curled or bent over the opposite legs la and 8a of the finger forming loop. In this type of construction the entire assembly operations may be performed upon a punch press.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown. and described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a wrench having a handle terminating in jaws spaced apart to receive a nut therebetween, of a pair of spring fingers, means on said handle mounting said fingers on said wrench with said fingers extending parallel to said handle and over said jaws transversely of the axis of a nut disposed between said jaws, and nut engaging means on the ends of said fingers for insertion into the threaded bore of said nut to engage the-threads formed therein and releasably hold said nut suspended between said jaws.

2. The combination with a wrench having a handle terminating in jaws spaced apart to receive a nutthere'between, of a pair of spring fingers, means on said handle mounting-said fingers on said wrench with said fingers extending parallel to said. handle and over said jaws transversely of the axi of a nut said jaws, and nut engaging means on the ends of said fingers for insertion into the threaded bore of said-nut to engage the threads formed therein and releasably hold said nut suspended between said jaws, said fingers being so shaped disposed between 3. The combination with a wrench having a handle terminating in a pair of jaws spaced apart to receive a nut therebetween, of a mounting means on said handle, and a spring member secured to said mounting means, said spring member having a, U-shaped form including a pair of resilient fingers extending parallel to said handle and transversely of the axis of a nut placed between said jaws to a position opposite said-nut, said fingers terminating in L-shaped ends disposed with one leg of said L-shape substantially at right angles to the length ofsaid fingers and with the other legs of said L-shapes extended away from each other and substantially at right angles to the length of said fingers, whereby said spring fingers may be pressed together and said ends inserted into the threaded bore of said nut to engage said other legs of said L-shapes with the threads in said bore to releasably hold said hold said nut between said as to have normal unstressed positions disposed interconnection of of said handle to said jaws threaded bore of a nut handle toward nut suspended between said jaws.

4. An attachment for wrenches having. a handle terminating in jaws spaced apart to receive a nut positioned with its axis transverse to the length of said handlecomprising: a U-shaped resilient clamp to be slipped on to and grip said handle; an upright post secured to one of the legs of said U-shaped clamp; and a helical spring surrounding said post, the spring being 0 positioned with respect to said clamp as to extend in the direction of the length nut engaging means for insertion within the placed between said jaws to engage the threads within said bore and releasably hold said nut between said jaws.

5. Anattachment for wrenches having a handle terminating in jaws spaced apart to receive a nut positioned with its axis transverse to the length of said handle comprising: a U-shaped resilient clamp to be slipped on' to and grip said handle; a hair-pin spring including a pair of interconnected spring fingers so positioned with respect to said engaging elements to be inserted within the threaded bore of a nut placed between said jaws to engage the threads in said bore and releasably jaws; and means securing said hair-pin spring to said clamp comprising a pair of clips formed integrally with one of the legs of said one of said spring fingers adjacent the point of said fingers.

FRANK MALCOM.

clamp as to extend parallel to said aid jaws and terminating in nut U-shape and each bent about ends of said helical and terminating in 

